The winner of the 1975 World Fantasy Award, this fantasy for readers 12 to adult follows Sybel, a young sorceress with ivory hair and black eyes, who lives alone on her mountain and cares for the mystical beasts her father summoned there, including a dragon, a giant falcon, and an ancient and wise boar. Then a red-haired man named Coren brings Sybel a baby prince to care for, and her icy heart opens to another human for the first time. But when Coren returns 12 year later to take the boy back to his royal home, Sybel finds herself drawn into a bitter and vengeful battle.